Poached Egg over Asparagus & Crispy Quinoa
on Feb 26, 2014, Updated Jan 02, 2021
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Nothing says renewed spring and taste quite like Asparagus and Eggs, find this at the intersection of health and beauty.
In our kitchen and subsequently, on our dinner plates, we’ve been trying a few new things over the past year. Since officially launching platter talk we have introduce ourselves to a few culinary techniques, foods, and ingredients that are new to us, and by the same token, we hope to have introduced some that are new to you, our reader.
By now, almost everyone has heard about quinoa, the ancient Peruvian grain that produces edible seeds, replete with protein, and lacking gluten. Over the last several years, quinoa has become a favorite food of health enthusiasts, being touted as an all-natural super-food, and with its popularity has come a constant flow of new uses and ideas for quinoa.
We’ve featured it a few times here on platter talk, with some stuffed cherry tomatoes, where we mixed it with some goat cheese, with a delicious and colorful salad featuring butternut squash and roasted red peppers, and we even showed you a quick technique for rinsing the uncooked seeds to help wash away the inherent of its natural state.
Today we are adding one more meal idea to our collection of quinoa dishes. The fresh asparagus and poached egg add color, taste, and nutrition to the mix. Taking it an even higher level of sensation, we crisped up the underlying bed of quinoa, adding more texture and crunch to an already sensational entree. For a crowning touch, we drizzled a swirl of lemon-balsamic reduction over it all, tying the whole package together for an easily attainable meal that indulges your body and your soul.
Other delicious breakfast recipes
Poached Egg over Asparagus & Crispy Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked & rinsed
- 1.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 8 oz asparagus
- 2 eggs
- 1 shallot, fine slice
- 1/2 red chili pepper, seeded & finely sliced
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Using small sauce pan, combine broth and quinoa over medium heat. Cover and bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 12 minutes.
- Wash and stem asparagus and set aside.
- Heat and prepare water in pan to poach eggs.
- In small sauce pan, combine balsamic vinegar and lemon juice and heat over medium heat. Reduce to about 2 tablespoons, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add shallots and chili pepper to pan and stir.
- Drain cooked quinoa and reserve sauce pan. Add half of quinoa to pan containing shallot and chili pepper, stir for a minute and then add remaining quinoa. Stir over high heat to crisp the quinoa and then return entire mixture to small sauce pan, cover and set aside. Reserve saute pan.
- Add asparagus to reserved saute pan and stir over medium heat, util bright and al dente, firm to the bite. Set aside and loosely cover.
- Poach eggs in prepare water. Plate quinoa, asparagus and poached egg(s). Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
You know me well enough by now that this dish has my name written all over it! Hope you saved one for me!
Indeed, Linda! I’m pretty sure you would approve of this one!
This is a lovely spring side dish. I love asparagus and quinoa. This dish needs to come home to my house!
Thanks so much, Diane. I hope you give it a try!
Oh yum!! I love the look of all that runny egg yolk oozing over the asparagus and quinoa 🙂 This sounds so delicious! What a fantastic combination of ingredients.
Thanks, Nicole! It’s so nice to hear from you!
There’s nothing sexier, food wise, than the silky yolk of a perfectly cooked egg 🙂 Love the combination with the quinoa and asparagus 🙂
CRISPY quinoa! I am so intrigued!
Wow, what a delicious and elegant dish! You’re killing me with that runny poached egg, Dan!
Thanks, Georgia. As messy as a runny looks, it sure tastes good!
This is a wonderful breakfast, lunch and dinner anytime! Love all the combined ingredients- YUM!
Thanks, Ladies, we really enjoyed this one for our dinner – again, last night!
I love a fried egg on top of asparagus, but poached sounds delicious, too. Great idea to add quinoa!
I love eggs with almost anything! Thanks for the comments.
That extra step of crisping the quinoa is such a great idea. And I love any excuse to eat a poached egg 🙂
Crisping the quinoa does add another element of texture to this dish. The color, the flavor and the added texture really lend this combination an almost 3 dimensional presence. Thanks for the great comments!
A poached egg always looks so attractive! And I love how it adds lusciousness to this wonderful looking dish. Great combo of flavors — thanks.
Thanks so much!